South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases bounced back to over 400 Wednesday as sporadic cluster infections continued at workplaces and private gatherings, spurring concerns over a resurgence in cases. The country reported 428 more COVID-19 cases, including 411 local infections, raising the total caseload to 99,846, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The country added three more deaths from COVID-19, increasing the total to 1,707. The fatality rate was 1.71 pe

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent verbal messages to the leaders of Cuba, Vietnam and Laos and called for stronger relations, state media reported Wednesday, in a move apparently intended to strengthen ties with socialist countries amid stalled nuclear talks with the United States. Kim sent the messages to "notify the accounts of the 8th Congress of the WPK" to Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong, Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith, and Raul Castro, the first secretary of Cuba

Kia Corp.'s new large sedan, the K8, received a strong response from the domestic market, with first-day preorders setting a record high among its sedan models, the nation's No. 2 carmaker said Wednesday. Kia started receiving orders for the K8, a direct follow-up to the K7, known as the Cadenza in the United States, on Monday ahead of the model's domestic launch slated for early April. Preorders for the K8 reached 18,015 units on the first day, outpacing the K5's preorders of 7,003 units in N

South Korea was to open a new war remains identification center Wednesday to more efficiently carry out its project to discover and identify the remains of soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, the defense ministry said. The ministry was to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the three-story identification center built at the national cemetery in Seoul. The center houses laboratories for gene testing and data analysis, ministry officials said. Previously, DNA testing equipment was at the C

South Korean low-cost carriers (LCCs) are struggling with high indebtedness stemming from huge deficits due to the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The debt-to-equity ratio of three major LCCs -- Jeju Air Co., Jin Air Co. and T'way Air Co. -- ranged from 430 percent to 517 percent as of the end of 2020, according to their business reports. A key barometer of financial soundness, the ratio is calculated by dividing a company's total liabilities by its stockholders' equity. Jeju Air

Samsung Electronics Co. maintained the status as the world's second-largest vendor of mobile image sensors last year, a report showed Wednesday, as the South Korean tech giant strives to catch up to the industry leader Sony Corp. In terms of revenue, Samsung, which produces image sensors under the ISOCELL brand, had a share of 29 percent in the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor market in 2020, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. Samsung, also the world'

South Korean stocks fell below the 3,000-point mark Wednesday despite the overnight decline in the US Treasury yields, as doubts about a quick recovery from the pandemic continued to loom heavily on investor sentiment. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 30.63 points, or 1.02 percent, to 2,974.11 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI got off to a weak start amid foreign and institutional selling, largely affected by the 1.12 percent overnight loss on th

Sales of South Korea's top instant noodle makers posted strong sales in 2020 thanks to brisk demand amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday. Nongshim Co. said its sales of instant noodles, or "ramyeon" in Korean, came to 2.09 trillion won ($1.85 billion) last year, up 16.3 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. It marks the first time for Nongshim's ramyeon sales to top the 2 trillion-won mark and the amount accounte

WASHINGTON -- A strong and robust US military presence in and around the Korean Peninsula is needed to help support the efforts to denuclearize North Korea, the nominee for commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command said Tuesday. Adm. John Aquilino made the assertion while arguing that sanctions regimes alone will not lead to the denuclearization of North Korea. "I do not believe sanctions alone will lead to the denuclearization of North Korea," the Navy four-star admiral said in a sta

South Korea's economy is expected to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic at a faster pace than expected this year as the US economic recovery gathers steam, the head of the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Wednesday. BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol, however, said the central bank has no plan to normalize its monetary policy earlier than anticipated, even though the nation's economy is predicted to grow at a faster pace in 2021. His remarks came as US President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion aid package is expected to

The combined net profit of asset management companies in South Korea surged 62.4 percent in 2020 from a year earlier due to a strong gain in commission fees amid a bullish stock market, data showed Wednesday. The combined net profit of 326 asset management firms came to 1.33 trillion won ($1.17 billion) last year, up 511.8 billion won from a year ago, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Analysts attributed the jump in their earnings to the bullish run of the South Korean stoc

South Korea's producer prices rose 0.8 percent on-month in February on a modest rise in oil prices, extending their monthly gains for the fourth straight month, central bank data showed Wednesday. The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, stood at 105.85 in February, compared with 105.05 a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index gained 2 percent from the previous year, the BOK data showed. The prices of agricultural goods gained 5.1 percent on-

South Korea said Wednesday it plans to spend 1.1 trillion won ($974 million) by 2027 to speed up the development of Level 4 self-driving vehicles and boost related technologies. At Level 4, one stage before full autonomy, the vehicle can drive itself under limited conditions and does not require human intervention. Under the plan, South Korea will support 84 projects to develop vehicle convergence, information and communication and road traffic technologies, as well as self-driving services an

North Korea fired two cruise missiles off the west coast Sunday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Wednesday, Pyongyang's first missile test in about a year seen as aimed at testing the administration of US President Joe Biden without being too provocative. "We detected two projectiles presumed to be cruise missiles fired from the North's western port county of Onchon early Sunday," a JCS officer told reporters. He refused to disclose other details, including their exact type, fli

South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook held in-person talks with his United Arab Emirates counterpart on Tuesday to discuss ways to boost the nations' defense and arms industry ties, the defense ministry here said. Suh met with Mohammad Ahmed Al Bowardi, the UAE's minister of State for Defense, and other senior UAE military officials during his visit to the Middle Eastern nation, as part of efforts to improve bilateral cooperation in a wide range of defense-related areas, the ministry said. Du

Kumho Tire said Tuesday it will sell its natural rubber processing plant in Vietnam to focus on its core business. The second-largest tire maker in South Korea said it has struck a deal with a joint venture between Korean automaker Hyundai Motor and Thanh Cong Group of Vietnam to sell its rubber factory. It plans to finalize the deal by May. The company opened the $4 million factory in southeastern Vietnam in 2007, which can supply rubber for 6 million tires a year.  The tire maker has b

SsangYong Motor's annual financial report was rejected by its external auditor due to its heavy debt, the cash-strapped automaker said Tuesday. SsangYong Motor, the South Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra, said in a regulatory briefing that Samjong KPMG gave a disclaimer of opinion for its 2020 financial report, questioning its ability to continue its business. The SUV-focused automaker logged 449.4 billion won ($398 million) in operating losses last year, increasing

Two former senior judges were handed suspended terms on Tuesday on charges of abuse of power intended to sway outcomes of high-profile cases and professional misconduct during the administration of previous President Park Geun-hye. The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Lee Min-geol, former director of planning at the National Court Administration, to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years. The court also handed Lee Kyu-jin, a former member of the Supreme Court's sentencing committee

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has expressed concern that the US strategy for the Indo-Pacific region could be an attempt to create a bloc against specific countries. Lavrov made the remarks during a virtual meeting with Korean correspondents in Moscow last week ahead of his trip to Beijing and Seoul. He is set to arrive in Seoul on Tuesday to hold talks with Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and attend other events. He claimed that the Indo-Pacific region expression was introduced as pa

South Korea on Tuesday began vaccinating people aged 65 and older at nursing homes and long-term care hospitals nationwide as scheduled, amid a mix of excitement and anxiety. More than 370,000 inpatients in the age group, caretakers and medical staff at such facilities are scheduled to get vaccinated in the coming weeks. The second round of the country's vaccine rollout came after the government decided to expand the vaccination program based on new overseas studies showing the effectiveness o